Fargo tapped to President Bush has nominated Adm. Thomas Fargo to be the next Pacific Forces commander, whose jurisdiction stretches over 43 countries.
lead Pacific Forces
The admiral now awaits
confirmation from the SenateBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com"I consider it a great privilege to be able to continue to serve my country, and look forward to the Senate confirmation hearing," Fargo, 54, said yesterday. Fargo is currently the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
The Pacific Forces command is the largest of the United States' nine unified military operations, covering more than 50 percent of Earth's surface and stretching from the U.S. West Coast to the east coast of Africa and from the Arctic to Antarctic, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, commended Bush's choice of Fargo as the 20th commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Command.
"That's the best news I have had in a long time," said Inouye last night. He predicted that Fargo should easily win Senate approval.
Inouye, who is known to have a good working relationship with outgoing CINCPAC Adm. Dennis Blair, said "the Pacific Command will be in good hands" with Fargo. Hawaii's senior senator added that he has had "an equally good relationship" with Fargo at the helm of the Pacific naval fleet.
Fargo, a 1970 U.S. Navy Academy graduate, will succeed fellow Annapolis alumnus Blair, class of 1968, who will retire May 2. Blair has accepted a position as senior fellow at the Institute for Defense Analysis in Alexandria, Va.
The Pentagon did not announce yesterday who will succeed Fargo as the 30th Pacific Fleet boss responsible for the world's largest combined fleet command, encompassing 102 million square miles and more than 190 ships and submarines, 1,400 aircraft, 191,000 sailors and Marines, and 30,000 civilians.
But the incoming Pacific Fleet commander will take the helm at a time when at least one Bush official is looking to eliminate the Makalapa headquarters as part of an overall directive to cut headquarters staffs by 15 percent by October.
David Chu, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, is circulating a briefing that advocates cutting more than 5,000 military service jobs from the unified commands.
Chu's initiative could result in the elimination of organizations like the Navy's Pacific Fleet, U.S. Army South, Marine Forces Atlantic or U.S. Air Forces Europe.
Inouye said he does not "see any justification in what he has alleged to have said. None of us here have been officially advised of any change of that nature."
During his three years as Pacific Fleet commander, Fargo had two major international incidents, both last year.
On Feb. 9, 2001, the Pearl Harbor-based nuclear submarine USS Greeneville collided with the Japanese fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru, sinking it and killing nine adults and students.
After convening a rare court of inquiry, Fargo reprimanded the Greeneville skipper, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, but allowed him to retire.
Two months later, on April 1, the crew of a disabled EP-3E Aries aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing on the island of Hainan off the southeast coast of China following a collision with a Chinese F-8. The crew of 24 was detained for three days.
The EP-3E was on a surveillance mission off the southern coast of China when it was shadowed by two supersonic Chinese F-8s (similar to Air Force F-16s). The jets flew dangerously close to the EP-3E, and one of them collided with its left wing before plunging into the Pacific. Neither the Chinese pilot nor the wreckage has been found.
Fargo, a former nuclear sub skipper, commanded the U.S. 5th Fleet and Naval Forces of the Central Command during two years of Iraqi contingency operations from July 1996 to July 1998.
He is a 1989 recipient of the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for inspirational leadership. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit (three awards).